Ruffled tucking.



No. 635,227. Patented 001. I7, I899. w. aowneu.

RUFFLED TUCKING.

(Application am m 18, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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RUFFLED TUCKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,227, dated October 17, 1899. Application filed May 18, 1898- Serial No. 681,075. (N seamen.

To all whom, it Wmy concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BOWDEN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Manchester, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Ruffled Tuckiu g, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide certain new and useful improvements in ruffied tucking whereby any suitable fabric material can be readily converted or transformed into a suitable trimming for use on ladies and childrens garments for decorative or other purposes.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be-had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the fabric material with the tucks formed thereon. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the finished article, and Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

The fabric material A-is first formed with rows of tucks B, made in the ordinary manner on a sewingmachine or the like and secured at their base by stitches, and then the fabric material is dampened by suitable means, preferably in a receptacle provided with a steam-jet connected with a steam-supply, so that the fabric material receives a uniform moistening and softening. The material in this condition is then stretched in the opposite direction to that in which the tucks are running, so that the material between adjacent stitches of the tucks is drawn out to form the shirrs or crinkles A, and gather the tucks B, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 at B. The stretching is applied crosswise to the run of the tucks, and'provision must be made in the stretching sidewise to allow of the material running up lengthwise.

A small portion of the fabric can be stretched at a time by hand by pulling from opposite sides, thus stretching it to its fullest extent and producing a shirred and crinkled appearance in the fabric, the process being repeated again and again until the whole piece has been so stretched.

The degree of fineness of each crinkle is governed by the size of stitch of which the tucks are made, a large stitch giving a coarse crinkle and a fine stitch a fine crinkle, the depth or density of the crinkle being governed by the amount of steaming and consequent stiffness of the fiber of thelmaterial and afterward by the amount of stretching to which it is subjected, the principle involved being the strength of the cotton forming the stitch pitted against the crushability of the fabric in a damp and softened state. Instead of shirring and ruffiing the material by taking small portions at a time a stretching-frame may be employed, which while putting a sufficient strain upon the width of the cloth will allow the length to run up, asis necessary in the shirring.

The shirring extends at a right angle or transversely to the tucks B, and in order to retain the shirring and the gathered tucks in position I employ a binding 0, preferably in the form of rows of stitches, parallel to the tucks B and close to the same, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. It is evident that by the rows of stitches forming the bindings I securely fasten the shirring in position, so that even a stretching of the material in the direction of the tucks does not return the shirrs back into smooth fabric, but, on the contrary, the binding firmly holds the shirrs and the gathered tucks in place, so that washing of the fabric will not disturb the appearance of the shirrs.

The binding 0 may also be formed by a lining, thread or cord, sewed or otherwise fastened to the fabric material parallel to the tucks B and transversely to the shirrs A. The ruffled tucking thus formed can be readily used for trimming purposes on ladies and childrens garments, on curtains for Windows, and other purposes and places.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. As a new article of manufacture, a ruffled tucking,consisting of a fabric material formed with one or more rows of gathered tucks,shir-rs extending transversely to said tucks, and a binding for holding the shirrs and gathered the tucks and forming shirrs extending trans- IO tucks in position, said binding consisting of versely of the gathered tucks, and means for rows of locked stitches parallel to the tucks, holding the shirrs and the gathered tucks in as set forth. position, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a ruffled I T tucking consisting of a fabric material formed VILLIAM with one or more rows of tucks secured at Witnesses: theirbasebystitches,the materialbetweenthe ELEANOR PAPI, stitches being drawn out thereby gathering LUCY WILLIAMSON. 

